Imran Khan's PTI invites former nemesis MQM to form Pakistan govt; seeks help in election of speaker, deputy speaker

Karachi: Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf has sought the support of its former nemesis MQM-P to form the federal government, a media report said on Tuesday.

File image of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan. Reuters

Khan's pointman Jahangir Tareen flew into Karachi from Islamabad last evening and invited former rival Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan to join the PTI-led government, the Dawn reported. Karachi-based MQM-P, which ruled Pakistan's commercial hub for decades, managed to get just six National Assembly seats — four in Karachi and two in Hyderabad — in the 25 July elections compared to its 24 NA seats in 2013.

The MQM-P has become an important factor in national politics since the PTI with 116 seats in National Assembly cannot form a government on its own and lacks a simple majority in the lower house of parliament. Tareen along with PTI leaders Arif Alvi, Firdous Shamim Naqvi and Imran Ismail reached the MQM-P's temporary headquarters in Bahadurabad area and met with its convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui.

Talks between the two parties held behind closed doors past midnight. An MQM-P source told Dawn that Tareen sought MQM-P's help in the election of speaker, deputy speaker and leader of the house in the National Assembly and offered the party its share in the upcoming federal Cabinet. The MQM-P was not interested in a single ministry and it wanted more powers for the Karachi and Hyderabad local governments, the daily said.

Later, Tareen told the media that the PTI had invited the MQM-P to join its government at the Centre for the sake of the country. He said that both the PTI and MQM-P got mandate from Karachi and now it's time to deliver to the people.

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